The Teacher's Favorite Student
by Sixty Five Roses
Summary: On New Caprica, Laura takes in an orphan while a catastrophic plague spreads in the fleet.


**A/N** : I don't usually write for the BSG fandom, but this plot bunny refused to let go of it. I've been writing this story since November 2017, and finally had the chance to finish it today. I have been inspired by the conversation Bill and Laura had in "Unfinished Business" where Laura mentioned that a plague on New Caprica could be the end of the fleet. The story also explores Laura as a caretaker, which is something that was touched upon in the show, but never fully developed.  
 **Trigger warning** \- This story includes the illness and death of a child as well as descriptions of hard living conditions.

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Every teacher has a favorite student. It was one of those things they never taught at the Caprica University. However, it was something that most teachers came to understand on their first day of school. There was no way around it. When you spent so many hours with these children, especially the younger ones, it was impossible not to get attached to them, and to some more than others. Laura has always tried to treat all of her students the same way, but sometimes, one student needed her more than others or required more attention. And it was usually that student that she ended up attached to more than the other kids in her class. Maggie was different.

One of President Baltar's first initiatives on New Caprica was to establish a school. Being familiar with her background, she was the first person he approached. It soon became evident that he knew nothing about education, so the task of establishing the school landed on her shoulders. Truth be told, Laura had nothing but dislike for Gaius Baltar, but teaching has always been her passion, and she was happy to be in a place where she could contribute. And so, with very little resources, Laura managed to gather everything that she needed to build the classroom tent. The New Caprica Elementary School was up and running within less than a week after her first conversation with Baltar on the subject. On the first day of school, she discovered just how huge her class was. Thirty children between the ages of five and eleven were sent there by their parents on the first day of school, and the number grew over the following week. It was the biggest class she has ever taught. It was easy for a child to fall between the cracks in such a big class, but somehow, Laura managed to give each and every student enough time. It was only a month after she asked Maya to become her assistant that she could give every student the attention that they needed. At the end of every school day, the parents came to pick their children up. By now, Laura knew which child belonged to which parent. Maggie, however, was never picked up by anyone. Maggie was one of the students who joined the class in the second week of school. She appeared to be about six or seven years old, but it soon became evident that the little girl was gifted. The young girl excelled in every single subject that was taught at the impromptu school, and required very little assistance with her schoolwork. In such a big class, it would be easy for a child that doesn't need help or seeks much attention to fall between the cracks, but not in the class of an experienced teacher like Laura. In her opinion, it's those kids who need to be looked at more closely, the ones who feel like they have something to prove to the world. And it is for this reason that Laura set her mind to inquire about the child. Not being the president anymore meant that she no longer had access to the colonial fleet's files, and that meant that any information about Maggie would have to come from the child herself. With her background in teaching, she knew that any question about this girl's origins should be handled with sensitivity and so, one day, at the end of the school day, she asked Maggie to stay after class to help her decorate the dreary walls of the classroom. She handed Maggie a stack of colorful cardboards that she managed to get in the black market and told her to draw flowers that they would later cut and paste it on the walls.

"So Maggie, how old are you?" she asked. The girl seemed genuinely surprised that Laura showed interest in her.

"Eight," she replied, and her voice was almost like a squeak as if it has not been used for a long time. The girl's age surprised Laura. She expected her to be younger. Her niece would have been eight had she been ever born. Laura tried to suppress that thought; it was too upsetting.

"And you live here with your parents?" Laura wondered. Maggie shook her head. "Your grandparents?" Another shake. "Where is your family?" The girl shrugged. Laura knew that there were orphans in the fleet; children who lost their parents in the attack on the colonies. If Maggie was one of them, she might have been too young to remember much about her family. "Where do you sleep?" Laura wondered.

"I have a box and a blanket," Maggie answered. She sounded as if it was just enough for her.

"Is there no one who takes care of you?"

"I am my own master," she replied. Laura smiled. She taught the class the meaning of that phrase only yesterday after they've read it in a book.

"I see," she replied. "And how do you get your food?"

"Rations," Maggie replied. Laura sighed. They all had food rations. Mostly it consisted of bread, stew, and coffee. Sometimes they were given some grains or oats. Those who had personal belongings could trade them on the black market and get some butter and milk, maybe some vegetables or meat. Laura traded her watch and two rings for sacks of lentils and potatoes. She planted the potatoes in a big pot, and now she could sustain herself without needing to depend solely on rations. She still had some items she could trade, but she was keeping them for a moment when they would be needed. Thinking that this little girl was only living on rations made Laura's blood boil. Of course, Gaius Baltar did not think of a proper care system for the orphans in New Caprica. How many hungry children were in the city?

"I'm very proud of you for being so independent," Laura said. "But tonight is going to be colder than usual, and I'd hate to think of you sleeping in a box. Come home with me. My tent is warm, and I have more food." Maggie didn't need much convincing. Laura assumed it was the idea of better food that appealed to the girl. A child that young who had to take care of herself surely had a well-developed survival instinct.

As soon as they arrived at Laura's tent, that was conveniently located in the outskirts of New Caprica, quite far from the other tents, Laura lit the fire in the stove and put a kettle on it. It was a wood burning stove that Bill has built for her from scrap metal. It was not advanced or decorative, but it served its purpose very well. She had a bowl of lentils soaking in water all day long, and now they were ready for cooking. She cooked three of her precious potatoes in a different pot.

"While we are waiting for dinner to be ready, maybe we should give you a bath, shall we?" She said to Maggie. Both of them knew that despite the fact that it was phrased as a question, it was more of a demand. Maggie smelled, probably because no matter how responsible a child her age was, she simply was lacking the proper means and maturity to maintain her hygiene. The only shower was located outside the tent, but it was too cold for Laura to let Maggie take a shower outside. She grabbed a tin pail where she normally washed her clothes and dragged it to the middle of the room. She poured the water from the kettle into it and went outside to refill the kettle. She put it on the stove again, and they waited. Maggie wasn't a talkative child, but Laura could tell that she was an inquisitive one. While they waited for the water to heat, the little girl walked around the tent, inspecting the luxuries that it offered. Of course, there weren't many. Laura had only acquired items that would make life on this rough planet more bearable, and nothing more. But to a child who has been living in a box for several months, it must have seemed like a castle. The kettle whistled, and Laura poured its content into the pail. She went back outside to refill it again, this time pouring the cold water into the pail, to balance the temperature. She checked it with her hand and then turned to look at Maggie. "The water is perfect," she said, and the girl walked over, shedding her clothes one by one with every step she took. She stepped into the pail and sat inside, bringing her feet to her chest. Grabbing a towel and a bar of soap, Laura gently scrubbed the girl's pale body, exposing countless freckles and a mop of fiery red hair that turned brown under the dust that covered it. Underneath the dirt, the girl was breathtakingly beautiful. "You look like a new person," she said to Maggie as she wrapped a big towel around her slender shoulders and helped her out of the pail. The water was dirty now, and Laura realized that she might have to take a couple more trips outside in order to get new water to wash the girl's clothes. She helped Maggie dry off and handed her a gray flannel shirt. It was going to be too big for such a young girl, but it would have to suffice until Maggie's clothes dry in the morning. She then took the food off the stove and put it in a bowl before handing it to the young girl. "Be careful, it's hot," she warned, but the starved child did not seem to care. She consumed the food as if someone was chasing her. Laura also ate, albeit much slower, and when she was done, she declared that it was time to go to bed. There was only one bed in the tent, and it was clear to both of them that they were going to share it. As they lay together, wrapped in a wool army blanket with the Galactica's symbol printed on it, a lullaby seeped through between Laura's lips. It was an old one her mother used to sing to her, and one that returned to her mind when she first learned that she was about to become an aunt. After the accident where she lost her sisters and father, she forcibly pushed the song out of her mind. And still, the innocent, sweet lullaby always came to her at nights, when she had no control over her mind, and her dreams took her to the happy moment she has imagined for so many years, a happy moment that she was never going to experience, of singing her niece to sleep. Tonight was the first night that she was finally able to sing it to a living child.

After Maggie fell asleep, Laura's thoughts wandered. How many orphans like Maggie were fighting for their lives in New Caprica? She wasn't aware of any that attended her school. She was familiar with the families of most of her students, and even those who did not have parents still had other relatives who cared for them. Something had to be done for them. Someone had to take care of them, that is if Maggie wasn't the only one. With her mind so preoccupied, she knew that sleep couldn't be farther from her. And with Maggie in her bed, there was no room for her to turn and try to find a more comfortable position. With a sigh, she pushed herself off the bed slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping child up. It may have been the first time since the fleet landed on New Caprica that Maggie had a warm bed to sleep in. And Laura still had many things to do before she would let sleep claim her. She went out of the tent to refill the water in the kettle and placed it on the stove, making sure to remove it before it whistled. She grabbed Maggie's clothes and soaked them in the water. She then used a knife to grate a few chips of carbolic soap into the water. Back on Colonial One, she had a better smelling laundry soap as well as a fabric softener, but here she received one bar of carbolic soap every two weeks. The government rations were strict, and everyone in New Caprica now smelled of the disinfectant that they were given for their laundry. Laura scrubbed Maggie's clothes. The amount of dirt that came out of them was astonishing, and Laura replaced the water in the pail and gave them another wash, just to make sure that the clothes were thoroughly clean. After she squeezed all the water out, she hung the clothes on the back of a chair that she placed in front of the stove. She hoped that the heat would dry them by the morning.

She then sat to review her lesson plan for tomorrow and then tried to figure out what resources she might require to solve the stray orphan problem in New Caprica. She wasn't sure yet if there was even an orphan problem at all, but finding that out would be the first step she needed to take. She said a prayer to the Gods that it would be the only step she has to take and that Maggie would be an isolated incident of a girl that fell between the cracks. After a couple of hours of work, thoughts, and prayers, Laura finally felt her eyes fluttering shut, and a yawn escaped her mouth. She walked over to her bed and very slowly and quietly laid down next to the sleeping little redhead girl. The warmth of the small body against her own comforted her and she fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.

The following day, she had given the president's office a call. It took her a while to convince the woman who answered the phone that she was the former president of the colonies, but after a good fifteen minutes, she was finally transferred to Baltar. He seemed surprised to hear her voice, but after she explained to him what she needed and why, he agreed to transfer her the personal files of all the underage children in the fleet. The next morning, she already had it delivered to her tent in five cardboard boxes. The first file she wanted to locate was Maggie's, and to her surprise, she found it rather quickly. However, she was disappointed to find out that there was barely any information available about the girl. It appeared that she was transferred between a few ships several times, and therefore all the known information about her was her name and that she originated from Picon to parents who were both in the military. Her father was killed in a training accident when she was an infant, and her mother served on the Pegasus and was later killed in a mission against the Cylons. It was now that Laura understood how Maggie found her way into the fleet. Admiral Cain had made sure any person who could not serve her ship would be eliminated, and that would probably include Maggie. It was clear to Laura that the only way that Maggie could survive Cain's cleansing of any unessential passengers was if her mother had taken measures to hide her. Upon further examination of Maggie's file, Laura found out that the girl's mother was killed only a month after Adama was appointed admiral. Laura was convinced that if she had died under Cain's command, Maggie would have never made it. What luck did this little girl have, Laura sighed. Going over all the files and compiling a list of orphans in New Caprica took Laura several days, but after carefully checking each of their current placements, she was happy to conclude that Maggie was the only unsupervised orphan in the fleet. New Caprica suffered from so many issues. Having a group of orphans to take care of and establishing a system that would work for them would require a lot of effort and resources. All in all, Laura felt a great relief that Maggie was the only one in need of a permanent placement, and as far as she was concerned, that was with her.

Laura contacted Baltar's office to submit a temporary guardian application for Maggie, but no one bothered to address her request. In the meantime, Maggie remained with her. Days turned into weeks and even without a legal standing over Maggie, it was clear that whatever happened, the two of them will remain together, at least until Maggie was old enough to take care of herself. It was undeniable that the new living arrangement has changed both of them. An unexplainable gaiety has snuck under Laura's skin and remained there. Every morning when she opened her eyes, every breath that she took, every time she saw the girl's beautiful smile filled her with joviality and esprit. Watching the way Maggie blossomed under her care was certainly the zenith of her daily life. She knew that she was good with children; her career was proof of that, but she didn't know what a difference a little care and attention could make in an orphan's life. It appeared that from the moment that Maggie realized that she did not have to worry about where her next meal would come from, all her cares in the world disappeared. She has become more outgoing, less shy, and Laura enjoyed watching the previously serious little girl letting her guard down and making friends at school. She has always wanted a child of her own, but none of her relationships worked out, and she couldn't imagine herself as a single mother, so she put up with a childless life. It had its perks, of course. She could come home at whatever time she wanted to, and the house was always just as she left it. There were no huge piles of laundry and no dishes in the sink and no crying in the middle of the night or wet sheets after a nightly bedwetting. Once she had fallen into the comfortable life of being a single, childless woman, it made a lot of sense to her. She had spent the most of her career in the classroom, in the company of children, and that had filled the void that she refused to acknowledge existed inside her heart. As her career developed and she had climbed up the ranks, first as a vice principal, then principal and later the director of municipal education, her contact with children has become more and more scarce. Once she became the Secretary of Education under Adar's administration, her main contact was with the teacher union, cultural organizations and other professional contacts. Life in New Caprica allowed her to go back into the classroom and made her realize that as exciting as politics might have been, for her there was no replacement to the presence of the younger minds. And now, sharing her humble abode with a little girl brought something into her life she never realized that she craved. She wouldn't go as far as to call herself a mother, but she was a caretaker, and she enjoyed it.

"Where is half the class today?" she wondered in Maya's ears one day when most of the children in their classroom failed to attend school.

"You haven't heard, have you?" Maya asked as she placed Isis down in her crib.

"Heard what?" Laura looked at her worriedly.

"There's a typhus outbreak in the fleet. There are over a hundred sick people and seventy casualties already," Maya said. "I think some of the parents prefer to keep the children at home until this outbreak is contained."

"Well, let's hope our excellent government gets that under control soon," Laura replied and looked at the children who settled in their chairs and took their books out. Maggie was sitting in the front row, and looking at her expectantly. "Okay, everyone, open your books on page fifty-four, who wants to read for us?" Laura asked. Maggie was the only one to raise her hand. Laura nodded in her direction, and the little girl began reading.

During the following week, fewer children attended school. A rumor has spread that three of them contracted typhus. The news across the fleet was not encouraging. The estimated number of people who carried the disease has increased to four hundred, and there were already almost two hundred casualties. Out of worry for Isis, Laura instructed Maya to stay at home. With a class of fifteen children, no help was needed anyway. The children looked distracted and worried, and she couldn't blame them. Some of them already lost friends, parents, and siblings to the disease and some were simply scared to catch the disease themselves. All of them seemed relieved when the school day was over. Laura wondered if she should close the school until the doctors get the raging epidemic under control. She gathered her things and put them in her bag. Maggie had already gone home, as she usually did when the school day was over. And Laura walked to her tent as fast as she could. She sought out the comfort of her tent, the warmth it offered, and the presence of the little girl who has stolen her heart in the last couple of months. With thoughts of Maggie in her mind, she entered her tent, expecting to find the girl doing her homework while sitting at the foot of an upside-down wooden box they've been using as a desk. However, the child was not in her usual spot, and after throwing a quick glance around the room, Laura found her in bed, tightening the blankets around her small body. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gently touched Maggie's face. It was clear to her that the girl had a high fever.

"Sweetheart," she gently caressed Maggie's hair that was damp with sweat. "What hurts?"

"My head, and my arms," Maggie replied weakly. Laura wasn't sure what the symptoms of typhus were, but a headache and fever could be anything, and she wasn't going to panic over something which may not have been serious. She made Maggie a cup of tea and gave her half a painkiller. If Maggie's symptoms were not better by the morning, she would get a doctor to come and examine the girl. As she laid down in bed that night, Laura prayed to the Lords of Kobol that it was just the flu and nothing more serious than that. In any case, she realized that the school would have to close down for a few days.

Morning brought no relief to Maggie's fever and aches, and Laura went to fetch the civilian doctor. She hated leaving Maggie alone in this condition, but she was sure it would only be a little while. When she arrived at the hospital, a semi-permanent building, she found a line of over fifty people ahead of her. Two nurses went between the waiting people and checked their temperature and symptoms.

"Put this in your mouth," the nurse said when she got to Laura and handed her a thermometer.

"I'm not here for myself. My foster daughter is sick, at home. I need the doctor to come and see her," Laura explained.

"What are her symptoms?" the nurse asked.

"Fever and muscle pain," Laura replied.

"For how long has she been ill?"

"She started feeling bad last night," Laura sighed.

"Did she have lice recently?" the nurse asked. Laura shook her head. "Did you see any suspicious bug bites on her body?"

"No," Laura was getting frustrated with the questions, even if she understood that the nurse was only trying to help her.

"Did she play with any animals in the last couple of weeks, specifically rodents?" Laura wasn't sure, but she hasn't seen Maggie playing with anyone or anything that wasn't human. She shook her head again. "Look, it may be nothing," the nurse started and pulled a pamphlet from her pocket. "These are the symptoms of typhus. If she develops any of those within the next few days, bring her to the hospital." She handed Laura the pamphlet. "You can give her cold baths to take down the fever, and make sure she drinks a lot. With any luck, she's just contracted the flu." The nurse motioned for her to go out of the line and Laura felt her shoulders slumping with every step she took as she read the pamphlet on the way back to her tent. She found Maggie in a worse condition that she left her. The bed was soaked with the girl's sweat, and her hair was plastered to her forehead. She didn't even need a thermometer to know that Maggie was burning up. Grabbing the pail, Laura left the tent and filled it with cold water before dragging it back into the tent. She walked over to the bed and helped Maggie into a seating position, despite the girl's protests. She pulled Maggie's pajama shirt over her head, and then pulled the pants and underwear down as well. A shiver went down the girl's spine and goosebumps formed on her skin.

"It's okay, sweetie. We're just going to bath you to help take down your fever," Laura explained as she helped Maggie stand and walk the short distance from the bed to the pail. She helped the girl lower herself into the pail.

"No, no!" Maggie cried out as soon as her skin touched the cold water.

"I know it's cold, Maggie. I know it's not pleasant. It's just for a few minutes, okay?" Tears welled in Laura's eyes. Seeing Maggie suffer was ripping her heart in two. Maggie let out a miserable wail, and her head fell against Laura's shoulder as she helped Maggie pull her feet into the pail. Gently, she washed the child's body with a wet cloth, fighting the urge to wrap her arms around Maggie's body and shield her from the coldness of the water. "You're such a brave girl," she encouraged Maggie. "In a few minutes your fever will go down, and everything will be fine." It took a little longer than a few minutes for Maggie's fever to go down, and the girl was calmer in her arms when Laura pressed her lips to her freckled forehead to check her temperature. She was relieved to discover that it was finally down and she helped Maggie out of the pail, wrapping a towel around the girl's slender body. "Are you feeling a bit better?" she asked Maggie. The girl nodded weakly. Laura fixed her a light meal and went to empty the pail and change the sheets on the bed. Maggie, who felt better after her fever went down was sitting at the makeshift desk Laura has arranged for her and drawing. Laura looked at her as she did their laundry. Gods, did she miss washing machines. The horrible carbolic soap was harsh on the skin of her hands. But given the thought of the infectious disease that was rapidly spreading through New Caprica and may have even reached her classroom and home, Laura realized it was useful in disinfecting their clothes. Once she was done with the laundry, Laura went outside to hang it. When she had returned to the tent, Maggie was hunched over and vomited the contents of her stomach into a bucket. Laura sighed as she kneeled by Maggie's side and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's okay, sweetheart," she said softly. Maggie had tears in her eyes when she was done, and Laura pulled her into her arms. She carried Maggie to bed and gently laid her down. There were very few times in her life when Laura felt helpless; now was one of those times. Seeing Maggie suffering and not being able to help her was a nightmare. Not being able to get decent medical care for her was even worse. Laura has met a lot of children in her line of work and has dealt with various medical and emotional emergencies in her classrooms over the years, but she had absolutely no clue how to deal with a child's rapidly declining health without any medical assistance. After giving it a little thought, she decided that if Maggie's condition continued getting worse in the next few hours, she'd take her to the hospital.

It was not much later that Maggie's fever went up and her ability to keep any food down became non-existent. After giving the girl another cold bath that did nothing to bring the fever down, Laura realized that her only choice was to take her to the hospital. The walk from her tent to the hospital normally took half an hour, but in Maggie's condition, there was no chance that she would be able to walk for even five minutes. Gently, Laura lifted the shuddering child in her arms. Even though Maggie was a slender girl, it soon became evident that carrying an eight-year-old child was not remotely similar to carrying a baby. It was even harder because Maggie was queasy and every movement made her nauseous. Laura could feel sweat rolling down her neck and back as she carried Maggie. Her back muscles would make her pay for that, but she would make that sacrifice any day if it meant Maggie would receive the medical care that she needed. It took her an hour to reach the hospital but unlike it was in the morning, the place looked stark. A guard was standing at the entrance and Laura walked up to him.

"I'm sorry, but you can't go in," he said and blocked her way in.

"I have a sick child here," she explained.

"The hospital is full. No one is admitted until we have available beds," the guard explained.

"I just want a doctor to take a look at her and maybe prescribe something that will make her feel better," Laura argued.

"The doctors are too busy to handle walk-ins," the guard explained.

"What about a nurse?"

"The staff is too busy. I'm sorry about your situation, but I can't help you. I hope she gets better soon." Laura felt tears springing from her eyes, but she knew that she needed all her strength to carry Maggie back to their tent and to take care of her. She wished Dr. Cottle was here. He was a conscientious doctor who would never refuse to take care of patients. Unfortunately, he was on board the Galactica and Laura knew that for him to come down and take care of Maggie, she would need to talk to Bill and as for a favor. She didn't oppose giving Bill a call. Talking to him was always a pleasure, and she missed his distinctive voice, but she hated the idea of her having the right connections to get a doctor while other citizens of New Caprica did not. She knew that asking Dr. Cottle to come down and treat all the sick people while he was needed on the Galactica would not only be unfair but would also put the soldiers aboard the Galactica at risk of contracting typhus. Thoughts of compromising her principles ran through her mind relentlessly as she carried Maggie back to their home.

"I'm so sorry I dragged you outside in this cold," she sighed as she put the girl to bed. "Rest, sweetheart," she pressed her lips to Maggie's sweaty forehead. The girl was still burning up, and Laura felt so helpless. She put a wet cloth on Maggie's forehead and prayed to the Gods until she fell asleep on the floor, by the bed, her head resting on the metal bed frame.

The muscles of her neck were stiff when she woke up several hours later, and she rubbed them and stretched. Even without looking, she could hear Maggie's heavy breaths coming from behind her. The girl sounded congested, and when Laura touched her forehead, she was surprised to discover her fever was down. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth. Maybe Maggie didn't have typhus after all. Laura pulled herself off the floor and climbed into bed next to Maggie, careful not to stir the girl awake. They've been sharing their bed ever since Maggie has come to live with her, and this was the first time the thought occurred to Laura that she needed to get Maggie her own bed or at least a mattress. With a thankful mind, she fell asleep again, protectively draping her arm across the little girl's body.

If Laura thought that Maggie's condition has improved, she was wrong. The girl's fever may have gone down, but the following three days proved Laura that whatever illness plagued the girl, it still had an iron-grip on her. While the fever did not return, the vomiting persisted. The hospital was still closed due to the epidemic, and the doctors and nurses were still unavailable. Laura knew that whatever it was Maggie had, the only way for her to see a doctor would be to get Dr. Cottle down to New Caprica. After spending most of her week taking care of a sick child, Laura no longer cared whether or not it was fair for her to use her connections for her benefit. Not receiving treatment could be life-threatening for Maggie. Making the call to the Galactica required a small bribe, but Laura was more than willing to trade one of her valuables if that meant that she could get help for Maggie.

"Laura?" Bill's voice scraped her ears when he finally came to the phone. "It's been a while."

"Bill." She didn't know why his voice made tears well in her eyes. "I have a child," she said. Bill's confused response made it clear to her how odd her statement must have sounded. "An orphan girl who's living with me." She could hear his breaths through the phone. "She's sick; the hospital closed down almost a week ago. She's not getting better."

"Rumor has it that there's an epidemic down there," Bill replied.

"Typhus," Laura confirmed. "I had to close the school down. The kids were dropping like flies."

"We had a little accident the other day. Doc Cottle is busy with the injured, but I'll send him down there as soon as he's free," Bill promised. Laura always liked how he knew what she wanted to say without her having to say it.

"Thank you," she responded. There was so much she wanted to say, but it was hard for the words to form in her head. Talking to him always left her a little disoriented.

"Stay healthy, Laura," he said. A choked affirmation left her throat before they both hung up the phone. Thick rain began falling as she walked back to her tent and it was only then that she let her tears fall. Her eyes were red-rimmed when she pushed the tent flap open and went in, her heart felt a little bit lighter than before. She walked towards the bed and threw a glance at Maggie who was curled into a ball under the covers. The girl's face was covered with red blotches, and Laura's breath caught in her lungs at the sight of her. A rash was listed as one of the symptoms of typhus in the pamphlet the nurse gave her a few days earlier. Her only hope now was that Dr. Cottle would get down to New Caprica in time.

Laura spent every waking hour of the next three days praying to the Lords of Kobol to help Maggie get better, and the more that Maggie's condition worsened, the more she prayed. The girl was barely awake anymore and even when she was, it was clear that she was completely delirious. Laura found herself desperately clinging to the information in the pamphlet as if it was a lifeline. If she was honest with herself, the knowledge of what might come next was her only way to gain control of the situation. With any new symptom that Maggie displayed, Laura found herself checking it off in the pamphlet. It felt like a countdown to the end, and she was at the end of her rope. The only thing that she could do for the child was to keep her clean and comfortable. It was on the fourth day when Laura noticed how heavy Maggie's breaths have become. She tried elevating Maggie's pillows to make it easier to breathe, and while it seemed to have worked, it was clear that Maggie's lungs were beginning to give in. Laura tried to open the tent flaps to allow some fresh and cold air in but even that didn't do much to help the girl. After several agonizing hours of wheezing, it became evident to Laura that Maggie was running out of time sooner than she would have liked. By the way her skin grew ashen, and even her vibrant red mop of hair looked faded and dull. It was clear to Laura that Maggie was at death's door and the realization dawned on her that the time to say goodbye has come. Taking a seat at the end of the bed, Laura placed a pillow in her lap and gently lifted Maggie's head so that she could see the girl's face. She stroked Maggie's wan forehead, the tips of her fingers slowly tracing the outline of her jaw.

"I don't know if you can understand me," her voice was barely above a whisper. "But I just wanted you to know that having you here has brought joy to my life. Thank you for lighting my days." Maggie's lips parted, and a few inaudible words came out, but Laura couldn't make out what the girl was trying to say. Maggie's blood drained from her face, and a sole, shuddering breath escaped her gaping lips as her flame went out. Laura closed her eyes and sent a prayer to the Gods to rest her soul in peace. She bent down and pressed a kiss to Maggie's forehead and got off the bed, gently laying Maggie's head back on the pillow. She pulled the blanket over the girl's head and walked outside the tent. The first rays of light were rising over the horizon as she walked to the nearby river. The water glistened in the early morning sunlight and Laura took a deep, cleansing breath, feeling her shoulders sagging more and more with every step that she took. Laura quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the river, the water rippling around her body. She swam deeper into the brook and let her entire body descend into the water. She closed her eyes and relaxed her muscles, letting the stream carry her away from there. After a few mentally and physically exhausting days, it felt good to surrender herself to the river's grace, to cleanse her mind. If tears rolled down her face, they became one with the water. For a moment, she allowed her soul to travel outside her body, and when it returned to her, she could feel the energy flowing through her limbs. Laura rose from the water, her feet finding the rocky ground and clinging to it. She moved her saturated hair from her face and navigated her way out of the water to where she left her clothes. She dressed up and walked back to the tent, the water from her hair wetting the collar of her shirt. She was surprised to see Dr. Cottle smoking outside her tent. She took his hand in gratitude.

"I'm afraid that you're too late, doctor," her voice was broken.

"I've noticed," he responded kindly. "I'm sorry for your loss." Laura always liked him, even when he grumbled. She could always see through his tough façade that deep inside he was a caring man. He followed her into the tent, where the presence of Admiral Adama startled her. He was kneeling next to the bed and looking over Maggie's lifeless face.

"Bill," she said his name softly, tiredly. He stood up and turned towards her.

"She was a beautiful girl," he said and took her hand. Laura gave him a quiet nod.

"Would you help me bury her?" she asked after a long moment of silence. She knew Bill would help her; after all, he came down from the Galactica to see her. A couple of hours later, as they stood over the new grave, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Doc Cottle wants to check you for typhus. He said you looked a bit flushed earlier," he informed her. Laura shrugged and stared at Maggie's grave. She couldn't find any flowers to put on it. "Come on, let's get you home," Bill said and laced his fingers with hers as they walked back to her tent where Dr. Cottle waited for them. Bill went for a short walk while Dr. Cottle examined her.

"You're running a fever," he said. "I'd like to start you on antibiotics. I recommend that you boil these sheets." He pointed at the bed. "And all your clothes. Keep hydrated." He drew her blood, promising to get back to her with the results as soon as he had them, and handed her a bottle of antibiotics. "Take one with breakfast, and one with dinner," he said and went out of the tent.

Bill stayed for the night, and Dr. Cottle returned to Galactica, promising to update them as soon as he had Laura's test results. After following his advice and spending the day boiling her sheets and clothes, Laura was drained. As soon as she sat down, she felt her eyes becoming heavy. She fell asleep in Bill's lap, as he read to her from 'Murder on Picon', the first book he has given her. She barely registered the meaning of any of the words before she drifted off to a deep slumber. It didn't matter anyway because she has finished the book shortly after he first gave it to her. When she woke up several hours later, the smell of a stew filled the tent. Bill handed her a plate, and they ate in silence.

"You're a good cook," she commented.

"Cooking skills help when all you have to eat is army food," he offered her a smile. "I brought you a little something." He reached into his pocket and took out a chocolate bar. "We ran out of licorice." He apologized. Laura knew he brought it to Maggie, but she took the candy anyway and thanked him. She unwrapped it and split it in two, handing him one half. She closed her eyes and let the pleasure take over her as the creamy sweetness of the candy burst in her mouth. It has been months since she ate chocolate. A sudden bitterness hit her taste buds when she realized Maggie would have loved it.

"Maggie would have loved it," the words came out of her mouth as soon as they went through her mind.

"I know that there's not much that I can say to comfort you," Bill rasped. "But if it's any consolation, I know what it feels like to lose a child."

"I've lost so many people in my life; I should be used to this by now," Laura felt the tears gathering in her eyes.

"If any of us got used to death, we wouldn't be humans," Bill spoke softly. Laura rested her head against his shoulder, letting the unshed tears fall without inhibitions. She cried for her mother, her father, her sisters, her niece who died even before she was born, and for Billy. But most of all, she cried for the little girl who found her way into her heart and her home; the child who was a blossom of summer even in the gloomiest winter day, the most brilliant student in her classroom. Every teacher had a favorite student, and Laura Roslin's favorite student was dead.

THE END

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 **As always, I'd love to know what you thought about this story, so feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.**


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